"How To Create A
Referral Marketing
Program
That
Floods Your Practice
With Patients"

When you
over-deliver in
response to a doctor
referred patient,
you are also
promoting that
doctor’s practice as
well
as a continuous
referral source for
your own practice.

To do
that,
requires
conscientious
and
intentional
interactions
with the
referring
medical
doctor or
appropriate
person.

A
reasonable
volume and
flow of
communications
with the
referral
doctor is
the most
effectual
means of
insuring
future
referrals
from that
doctor or
office
staff.

It's a
common
professional
courtesy
and
ethical
behavior
to
instantly
answer any
phone
calls from
doctors no
matter
what
activity
you are
involved
with at
the time,
with few
exceptions
(like
being in
the middle
of a
special
surgical
procedure).

When
doctors
take the
time to
call you
themselves,
you should
either
take the
call right
then of
have an
understandable
excuse not
to. Your
office
staff
member can
explain
the
situation
to the
doctor on
the phone
and
arrange a
time for
you to
call them
back
within a
very short
time
(within 30
minutes,
preferably).

This
demonstrates
your top
priority
in your
office to
respect
another
doctor's
time,
especially
when it
involves
referring
you a
patient.
Being
quick to
answer
such a
call
creates a
desirable
reputation
in the
peer
community
of being
quick and
willing to
comply.
This
should be
your habit
pattern
for any
physician
call
for
any
reason.

Usually,
the
referral
process is
handled
between
the two
office’s
staff
members by
phone
without
the
involvement
of the
doctors.
When a
doctor is
involved,
the
referral
is often
an urgency
or
emergency
and should
be handled
the same
day, or
within 24
hours at
most--maybe
even in
the
next
30
minutes.

By
enabling
the
referring
doctor to
get her
patient to
the right
doctor
promptly,
let’s her
patient
know that
she is
prepared
for such
an
urgency.

Patients
quickly
recognize
that their
doctor
cares
about
their
medical
problem, understands
the
importance
of prompt
help being
available
and which
doctor is
most
congenial
and
accommodating
in the
medical
community
whether
the
situation
is
urgent
or not.

You
need to be
the one
doctor in
the
community
that is
not only
the most
accommodating,
but also
the one
who has
just made
the
referral
doctor
look good
in her
patients
eyes. Do
you think
that
referral
doctor
will
reciprocate
in the
future?
You better
believe
it.
(Strategy:
reciprocity)

There
are many
more
strategies
all
doctors’
use at
one time
or
another
to boost
their
referral
marketing
efforts.
Most all
of them
can be
found
associated
with the
attractive
traits
found in
the best
physicians
you will
want to
refer
your
patients
to
yourself,
such
as...

Some
attractive
traits
that
referral
doctors
find
impressive
in other
doctors
that they
prefer to
refer
their
patients
most often
to, are...

Your
prompt
availability
(when
referred
for a
medical
problem,
patients
want to
be seen
right
away out
of fear)

Your
skills at
managing
their
patient’s
medical
problems,
if
asked to
do so

Your clear
advice and
appropriate
options
for your
findings
and
treatments
presented
to the
patient

Your
intentional
effort to
refer the
patient
back to
their own
doctor
for
further
care,
even if
not
necessary

Your
reports on
patient
findings
and
treatment
promptly
sent or
called
back to
the
referring
doctor

Your
ability to
express
(with the
least
fearful
words and
medical
terms) the
seriousness
of the
medical
problem
to
the
patient in
a manner
that is
factual,
understandable,
and
without
frightening
the
patient
beyond
hope

Your
expertise
at being
able to
satisfy
the
patient at
to the
need for
the
referral,
without
any
response
that might
reflect
badly on
the
referring
doctor’s
ignorance
or
skills

Your
ability to
present
your
findings
to the
patient
while
maintaining
an
attitude
of a
potential
for a
successful
outcome,
regardless
of the
true
severity
of the
medical
problem

Your trait
of never
saying
anything
derogatory
about any
other
medical
professional,
even in
a
humorous
fashion

How to
manage
your
interactions
with the
referring
doctor
that work
to your
advantage...

The
minimal
array of
communications
sent
doctor to
doctor
should
include at
least the
following...

1.
Responsibility
for
treatment
and
follow-up
visits and
management.
Most
referral
doctors
make it
clear at
the time
of the
request
for their
patient to
be seen
who is to
do which
part of
the
treatment
and
follow-up… them
or
you… or
even to
keep the
patient
forever
(ex. A
dermatologist
refers a
pregnant
patient to
an OBG
doctor)

2. Same
day phone
call back
to the
referral
doctor
about your
findings,
thoughts,
advice,
treatment
options

3. Written
communication
reviewing
the
details of
your
findings,
thoughts,
and
treatment
options… within
24
hours
of
consult

4. If you
are to
treat and
follow the
referred
patient
for that
medical
problem,
then a
follow-up
written
report and
phone call
back to
the
referring
doctor
about the
recovery
and
outcome is
important.

5. If the
patient
was
referred
only for a
diagnostic
and advice
consultation,
then all
treatment
will be
done by
the
referring
doctor.

In
this case
a written
report of
your
findings,
advice,
and
treatment
options
should be
sent to
the
referral
doctor to
use as
part of
his or her
education
in case
they are
not fully
informed
of the
most
recent and
upcoming
new
treatment
options
available.

At the
same time,
it is also
wise to
make it
clear in
the
message
that you
would be
happy to
help them
further at
anytime
with this
patient,
or even
take over
the care
of the
referred
patient
should her
own doctor
run into
problems
with the
patients
treatment… leave
all
options
open.

Additional
communications
can be the
elements
that set
you apart
from, and
above,
what other
doctors
don’t or
won’t do.
Remember
that
marketing
your
practice
is the foundation
for
continuing
stability
of
your
income
and
referrals.

The
marketing
strategy
here is...

Do what
other
doctors
are not
doing!

It positions you above your competition for referrals, as well as other
practice interactions in the future. By going the extra mile in this situation, it impacts those who
see or know what you are willing to do to deserve referrals. Your reputation is polished. Your integrity
is intensified.

Your
self-esteem
rises
because
you know
you are
doing a
better job
at what
you do
than most
others and
it
shows and
your peers
see it.

Consider
committing
yourself
to some
additional
highly
profitable
referral
marketing
strategies
that seal
your
dominance
as the
doctor
to
send
patients
to in your
local
medical
community.

1. A
well timed
and
constructed
“THANK
YOU” for
the
referral
process

No matter
how
seemingly
unnecessary,
simple,
faked,
late, or
ridiculous
this may
seem,
“thank
you’s” are
the
ultimate
fuel that
drives the
referral
engine.

Human
behavior
has long
been shown
to respond
dramatically
to the
process of
“recognition”…
just ask
your
spouse
about
that. A
personal
verbal
thank-you
may be
enough if
it’s
expressed
doctor to
doctor for
each
referred
patient,
not just
now and
then when
you happen
to think
about it.
It should
never be
taken for
granted.

Some
medical
professionals
prefer to
add a gift
item as a
means of
saying
“thank
you.” Many
doctors
prefer to
use
holiday
gifts as a
means to
thank
another
doctor.

This
effort is
effective
as long as
there’s a
handwritten
note
included
explaining
what you
are
thanking
the doctor
for (be
very
specific
as to any
patient
name,
date, and
reasons).

Doctors,
like all
of us,
forget
things
they do
for others
over time,
especially
when they
aren’t
compensated
for the
effort.
Consequently,
if a thank
you is
delayed,
the reason
for it may
not be
obvious
and the
effectiveness
of it
has
dissipated.

Whenever
someone
does you a
favor,
it’s
important
that the
thank you
is
delivered
promptly
to the
person for
obtaining
the full
effect of
gratitude.
Practice
busyness
or
forgetfulness
is never
an
acceptable
excuse for
delay or
avoiding
the issue.

2.
Rewarding
the office
staff of a
referral
doctor, is
something
most
doctors
disregard

To be
truthful,
you may
not be
aware of
how a
referral
patient
gets to
you. Some
doctors
leave it
all up to
their
office
manager or
specific
person to
do all of
his or her
non-urgent
referrals.

That
office
staff
member may
actually
be the one
who
decides
which
doctor to
refer to,
all based
on their
personal
dealings
with other
doctor
offices
and
perceptions
of their
competence
and
efficiency… and
whether
they ever
receive a
thank you
from
that
office.

Because
most
medical
offices
are very
busy,
lunch
times are
often
messed up
or
disappear,
leaving a
great
option for
the “fruit
of the
month”
kind of
gift that
they can
snack on
anytime
during
work
hours.

Not
only is
such a
gift a
monthly
reminder
to that
referral
office,
like a
repeated
thank-you
being
said,
about who
sent it,
but also
is an
investment
you make
to profit
from many
more
referred
patients.
It’s a
thoughtful
gift.

3.
Holiday
greeting
cards sent
to
referral
doctor’s
offices...

...are a
repetitive
means of
reminding
them in a
subtle
manner of
your
availability
for
referrals.
Keeping
others in
your focus
of
attention
in this
manner is
a very
clever and
subtle way
of nudging
them into
their
behavior
pattern
of
reciprocity.

When your
neighbor
invites
you over
to their
home for
an
evening,
doesn’t it
create a
strong
feeling
about
paying
them back
in some
way for
such an
interesting
evening?

This
effort of
sending
out
holiday
greetings
is greatly
enhanced
by adding
a personal
handwritten
message on
the card.
This
process
creates
exactly
the same
behavior
pattern
and
response
in your
patients
that you
send
birthday
cards to
once a
year.

A clever
“one-upsmanship”
tactic to
keep you
fresh in
your
patient’s
minds (who
also refer
you
patients)
is to send
your
patient’s
“half-year”
birthday
cards in
between
the
annual
and usual
one.

Do
the same
for the
doctors
who refer
you
patients.
Actually,
it’s a
perfect
time to
send a
humorous
card that
is
remembered
far longer
than the
cheesy
usual
greeting
cards.

One of the
magnetic
properties
of this
type of
marketing
(direct
mail) is
that it
often
incites a
response
in the
recipient
that would
not have
happened otherwise.

It may
also
result in
retaining
a patient
who was
drifting
off
towards
another
doctor at
the time,
or a
referral
doctor who
was
thinking
about
sending a
patient to
another
doctor
instead of
you. The
actual
cost to
you for
doing this
is
minimized
by
the
amount of
profit you
will make
from the
process.

There’s a
profitable
marketing
secret in
this
that’s
seldom
recognized.
The
marketing
fact that
it costs 6
to 10
times more
money to
recruit a
new
patient
than to
retain an
old
patient,
makes it a
lot less
expensive
to work at
retaining
your
present
patients
than
trying to
recruit
new
patients.

This is
even more
valuable
when one
is
focusing
on
retaining
a referral
doctor who
keeps on
sending
you
patient
referrals
and in
essence
costs you
nothing to
obtain in
the
exchange.

The
non-monetary
cost you
face is
your time
nurturing
the
referral
resource.
It’s the
same
benefit
retail
businesses
seek who
market to
their list
of
previous
buyers.

Comment
about
marketing
your
medical
practice
to the
best
doctor
referral
sources

Depending
on your
thoughts
about the
kind of
medical
patients
you prefer
to have in
your
practice,
your
marketing
efforts
should be
directed
to those
referral
sources.

The most
profitable
resources
for
patient
referrals
are the
doctors in
your local
city
medical
community
within a 7
to 10 mile
radius.
Some
doctors
prefer to
deal in
volume of
patient
referrals
and some
in quality
of the
patients
referred
to them.

You are
quite
aware that
you are
able to
see and
treat only
a limited
number of
patients
per day,
per week,
per month.
The level
of income
produced
in your
practice
from that
limited
number of
patients
is
dependent
on many
aspects of
your
practice
business.

Seeing
referred
patients
that are
in a low
income
healthcare
category,
rarely
become
loyal
patients,
and often
encompass
much more
of
your
attention
medically.
A practice
predominantly
composed
of
these
patients
usually
results in
a less
than
adequate
practice
income.

If you
deal in
volume of
referred
patients,
then you
are forced
to hire
more staff
who do
most of
the
medical
advice,
minor
treatments,
and handle
the
majority
of medical
patients
that are
seen.

As a
medical
student in
the early
1960s, I
remember a
center
city OBGYN
doctor
associated
with the
med school
teaching
program
known for
seeing an
average of
130
patients a
day in his
office.

That was
difficult
for me at
the time
to
comprehend.
It’s
obvious
now that
he had
hired
several
high
powered
OBG nurses
to see
most of
his
patients
every day.
Needless
to say, he
was quite
wealthy.

His being
50 or so
years
ahead of
his time,
was
remarkable.
It was
long
before the
time of
medical
office
certified
nurse
midwife
employees,
before
nurse
practitioners,
and before
medical
practice
required
private
practice
doctors to
hire such
special
employees
for
financial
survival.

If your
intent is
to create
a medical
practice
primarily
composed
of well
educated,
medically
informed,
and well
paying
patients,
you must
focus your
referral
marketing
efforts on
the
referral
doctors
who treat
those
patients
and that
send that
kind of
patient to
you.

Those well
established
doctors
who treat
affluent
patients
require a
higher
level of
your
referral
marketing
to get
their
attention
and to
refer
their
patients
to you.

That’s why
it’s so
important
to begin
your
medical
practice
in a
location
where this
is
possible
and where
your mix
with that
society is
possible
from the
start.
This may
not fit
your ideas
about the
kind of
practice
you want,
but it is
the
fastest
way to
wealth in
the
profession
if that is
important
to you.

You can
become
wealthy in
any
medical
practice
setup if
you know
how to go
about it.
It’s a
skill you
will never
be taught
in your
medical
education.
You learn
that from
life
experiences,
your
friends
and
mentors,
and from
your own
intellect
and
intuition.

If we all
knew the
secrets,
we’d all
be rich.
If that
was the
only goal
of medical
practice,
we’d all
be free of
frustrations.
Most
doctors
seek
fulfillment
in helping
patients
fight
disease,
trauma,
and
disability.
Fulfillment
is
something
wealth
doesn’t
provide.

However,
creating a
high
practice
income by
marketing
your
practice
does not
exclude
fulfillment
at the
same time.

I believe
that high
medical
practice
income,
when you
earn it,
is
deserved
and
provides
more
intensity
of
fulfillment.
That’s
because
you are
then able
to afford
to learn
new
medical
skills and
knowledge.
You become
a better
doctor in
the long
run.

You
are able
to serve
your
patients
at a
higher
level of
expertise,
and draw
more
referral
patients
because of
it. If
that’s not
true, then
I will
have much
to regret.

Patient
referrals
obtained
through
referral
marketing
efforts,
some of
which are
described
above,
should be
one of
your
primary
marketing
and
practice
building
objectives
in your
medical
career.

Article#33A

ARTICLE---DAN
KENNEDY--May 2012

The Renegade Millionaire Way

by Dan S. Kennedy

"Innovate"

Just the other
day, I was listening to a
recording of a speech by Joe
Sugarman* and Joe said, “One
good path to success is to
learn all the proven rules and
meticulously follow them.
Another path is to
occasionally break all the
rules, because breakthroughs
come only from breaking
rules.” Resonates with me; as
you know, I wrote a whole book
based on breaking rules. On
one hand, I’m cautious about
innovation; pioneers usually
come home full of arrows; it’s
often costly and time
consuming... and I am always
much more interested in “what
works” than a new idea.

However, as Joe said,
OCCASIONALLY, or I might say,
at carefully chosen time,
you have no alternative but to
be the pioneer in order to
move forward and in order to
stand out from the crowd. It
is, of course, the minority of
times that you successfully
innovate that you get noticed
for, not the majority of times
you successfully follow an
already plowed path.

(*In case you don’t know,
Joe Sugarman is a mail-order
pioneer: first to sell
electronic calculators via
direct-response ads, first to
use 800#’s. You may know him
via his infomercials or QVC
appearances for Blu-Blockers.
But his JS&A ads and catalogs
preceded The Sharper Image and
led in selling various
electronic gadgets.)

I think the best times
to innovate are when you are
absolutely convinced that the
conventional wisdom; the
already plowed path; the
crowd
is wrong.

Just as an
example, when I was getting
started in the speaking
business, everybody seemed to
operate under the policy of
billing clients for fees and
expenses after their
engagements (anything else was
viewed as impolite and
unprofessional), and most
speakers who sold product from
the platform sort of begged
the clients for permission,
and often sacrificed
that
opportunity.

Very early on, I
determined that being in the
banking and collections
business did not serve my
purposes very well at all –
nor did speaking only for
wages. So I insisted on a 50%
fee deposit to take a date off
the calendar, balance and
travel expenses paid on site
at the speech, and I refused
dates where I could not also
offer my materials.

At the time,
peers criticized me; told
companies would never accept
such terms; and called
‘unethical’ by agents and
bureaus. Today, my payment
policies are the norm in the
profession.

Another example:
At a time when every vendor
in a particular niche was
offering only very expensive
services requiring long-term
contracts, I copied their
marketing method but used it
to sell a substitute product
at a very small price (and
quickly took in a couple
million dollars) – I was
convinced they were
idiotically leaving a lot of
motivated but unsatisfied
customers behind by not
offering a low price
option.

An interesting
survey of selected,
successful, profitable large
corporations turned up 74%
that said they’d achieve their
first big success with either
a unique product or a
distinctive way of doing
business, although this
breakthrough may not have come
along until they had been in
business for many years.

Note
the word: first. I also know
many companies that are able
to
subsequently build on that
first breakthrough more
conservatively, to grow and
stabilize their businesses.

The
bottom-line, I guess, is that
you gotta gamble. You try to
gamble only
when you must OR
when circumstances look so
favorable that it is
irresistible,
but you got to
gamble.

DAN S. KENNEDY
is a serial, multi-millionaire
entrepreneur; highly paid and
sought after marketing and
business strategist; advisor
to countless first-generation,
from-scratch multi-millionaire
and 7-figure income
entrepreneurs and
professionals; and, in his
personal practice, one of the
very highest paid
direct-response copywriters in
America. As a speaker, he has
delivered over 2,000
compensated presentations,
appearing repeatedly on
programs with the likes of
Donald Trump, Gene Simmons
(KISS), Debbi Fields (Mrs.
Fields Cookies), and many
other celebrity-entrepreneurs,
for former U.S. Presidents and
other world leaders, and other
leading business speakers like
Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy and
Tom Hopkins, often addressing
audiences of 1,000 to 10,000
and up. His popular books
have been favorably recognized
by Forbes, Business Week, Inc.
and Entrepreneur Magazine. His
NO B.S. MARKETING LETTER, one
of the business newsletters
published for Members of
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